Dr. West is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses on philosophy, religion, and African American critical thought. He is the author of twenty books, including the seminal works Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and has lectured around the globe on issues of race, justice, and the politics of liberation. His legacy of truth-telling, rooted in the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., aligns perfectly with the values, vision, and work of Black Lives Matter Grassroots. 

As an educator and public intellectual, Dr. West’s work has inspired countless individuals to engage with the radical ideas necessary for dismantling white supremacy and building a more just world. His activism spans five decades and was inspired by the liberation theological praxis of his home church (Shiloh Baptist), the Black Power movement, and his justice-loving, freedom-fighting parents. Dr. West has organized in the anti-Apartheid movement, the fight for reparations, for liberated Ethnic Studies, for an end to gentrification and discriminatory housing, for global peace, and for a free Palestine, and marched in the streets, stood on stages, and advocated in halls of power – from Ferguson to Los Angeles – to make Black Lives Matter.